Bitcoin Miners Face Crushing Cost Pressure Amid AI Demand
Bitcoin miners are facing significant cost pressure as the weighted average ex-tax cash cost reached approximately $75,500 per Bitcoin in Q2 2026, according to CoinShares. This is above the quarter-end BTC price of $58,400, indicating a difficult operating environment for miners.
The record low monthly average hash price in June of $27.7 per PH/s/day has since recovered to about $38 as Bitcoin rebounded towards $77,000. However, operators remain dependent on higher BTC prices or lower costs to protect margins, with transaction fees below 1% of block rewards and elevated difficulty continuing to weigh on revenue.
Some miners are shifting power capacity towards AI data centers, with Core Scientific paying $41.9 million to cancel next-generation mining hardware and at least 35 EH/s scheduled to leave the listed mining cohort. Grid access is becoming more valuable for Bitcoin miners, with three fully leased AI data centers trading at roughly $27 million per megawatt compared to below $3 million per megawatt for some listed miners' energized but unleased capacity.